Candidate Ashford claims public is put off by negative ads against him

The 2nd District U-S House of Representatives race has taken a nasty turn.

Television ads by the National Republican Campaign Committee display Democratic candidate Brad Ashford’s picture next to convicted murderer Nikko Jenkins. It claims Ashford, a state senator from Omaha and chairman of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, supports Nebraska’s “good time” law, contending the law let Jenkins out of prison early. All indications are that Ashford is in a very close race with Republican Lee Terry, the incumbent.

Ashford says it is time to move on. He says this campaign has nothing to do with the “good time” law and it has nothing to do with the Jenkins case.

“What I think isn’t the issue,” Ashford says. “What the people of the district think is what the issue is and almost everyone I have talked to are put off terribly by them.”

It is only two weeks until Election Day. Ashford says public opinion polls indicate the race is a toss-up.